Internally Marketing Your Communications Department

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Internally Marketing Your Communications
Department

• Marc McCombs
• Corporate Communications Director
• West Virginia Medical Institute

2
WVMI Background

• Multi-faceted organization
• QIO for WV, PA and DE (PA and DE through
  wholly-owned subsidiaries)
• Medicaid prior authorization in WV and VA
• Record abstraction services for the Department of
  Veterans Affairs and DoD
• Analytical services for the CMS Office of Long
  Term Care

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WVMI Background

• Approximately 350 employees and contractors in
  seven locations
• Communications serves all QIO contracts and
  corporate communication needs
• Have grown from one staff person in 1995 to 14 in
  2003

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Todays Presentation

• Eight Simple Rules
• for establishing the internal value of the
  communications department

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Rule 1 Know Your Department

• Both from a philosophical and skills standpoint
• Establish departmental core values
• Service, Creativity, Teamwork, Innovation
• Conduct a communications skills inventory
• Either formal or informal

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Rule 2 Know the Organization

• Know every product, every process, every issue
  and every person
• Ways to get there
• Work on proposals (both proofreading and writing)
• Participate in senior management meetings
• Establish a working relationship, or preferably,
  a direct reporting relationship with the CEO
• Interview/work with managers and staff

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Rule 3 Define/prioritize your internal markets

• QIO contracts
• Business development and marketing
• Branding and proposal development
• Human resources
• Recruiting, orientation and internal comm.
• Satellite offices
• Communications and support
• Other contract and departmental support
• Virtually anything for anybody at anytime

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Rule 4 Provide services to meet your market
needs

• Match services with your skills assessment,
  knowledge of the organization and marketing
  priorities.
• Transfer your departments skills into benefits
• We can help you _____________________
• save on meeting travel costs by. . .
• make this understandable by. . .
• produce a winning proposal by. . .

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What services can we sell internally?

• Technical writing/editing
• Graphic design
• Video production
• Audio production
• Web design
• Media relations
• Public speaking expertise
• Facilitation
• Health education
• Physician office detailing

• Social marketing
• Process development
• Planning skills
• Problem solving
• Photography
• Training/education
• Media buying
• Database/mailing list management/procurement
• Wellness coordination

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Features/Benefits Exercise

• Department Features
• Video production
• Intranet development

• Customer Benefits
• Alternative to expensive, large meetings
• Affordable, accessible employee communication

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Rule 5 Deliver on the promises

• Under promise
• Over deliver

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Rule 6 Build demand by building credibility
(cont.)

• Deliver, deliver, deliver
• Leverage external success into internal
  credibility
• Enter award competitions
• Explore business opportunities for communications
• Share successful comments from partners

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Rule 7 Advertise

• Communicate your projects and successes using
  your communications bully pulpit.
• Employee newsletter
• Employee presentations
• Intranet/Internet
• Marketing publications

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Rule 8 Evaluate

• Solicit feedback
• Continually refine processes for providing
  services
• How can we do it better, cheaper and FASTER?
• If your policies and procedures arent meeting
  your customers needs, they must change.
• Even turnaround times!

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Anticipated result of following the rules. . .
A healthy, growing communications Department. . .
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Anticipated result of following the rules. . .
A healthy, growing communications Department. . .
Deeply routed in the organization.